Slashdot Mirror
Liberal Watchdog Questions White House Gmail Use
MexiCali59 writes "Liberal watchdog CREW has joined Republican Congressman Darrell Issa in calling for an investigation into whether White House staffers regularly use private email accounts to communicate with lobbyists. The allegations, first reported last week by the New York Times, would likely constitute a violation of federal law as well as an ethics pledge created by Obama upon taking office last year."
I've learned to ignore the bulk of what the President pledges when it comes to administration transparency. That was a campaign promise that I don't feel he lived up to at all.
I thought this was how every politician operated? Palin, The previous white house, etc, all used non-government assigned email addresses to avoid archiving and disclosure laws.
--jeffk++
ipv6 is my vpn
The allegations, first reported last week by the New York Times, would likely constitute a violation of federal law as well as an ethics pledge created by Obama upon taking office last year.
....aaaaaand the Obama administration has ZERO excuse for this, given that the Bush Administration and WH staffers were caught doing exactly the same thing (well, not exactly- in the Bush case, they were discussing firing US DA's for political advantage, and discussing CIA leaks...the list of illegal activity goes on and on.)
Aside from ignorance not being defense, Obama-ites were obviously not ignorant about it after the last administration were caught doing it!
Oh, and if you think this only happens in the White House, guess again. Mayor Thomas Menino in Boston had a lackey named Michael J. Kineavy who had his fingers in everything and was deleting emails before the City Hall backup server would get to them. And the City didn't have an email archiving system. And the city tried to claim that it'd cost a bazillion dollars to try and recover from the tapes they did have! More: http://www.google.com/search?q=menino+email
Please help metamoderate.
With all these lobbyists in Washington, I have always wondered who takes care of the ordinary citizen's interests in that city.
I guess the better question would be:
Who is lobbying on behalf of Joe Six Pack and family in Washington? Is there any?
Even if it is true that all politicians do this, that does not make this right. Archiving and disclosure laws are there for a reason.
I think the funniest and saddest thing is that Video FOX news likes to air of Nancy Pelosi saying to her people that she'd love to share what is in the bill but they need to pass it first.
That is exactly the problem in Government right now. These HUGE bills that no one knows what they contain.
I say we vote them ALL out and start over.
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
Many of us would love to vote them all out and start over. Sadly, those who would get voted in would be of the same breed as it takes a lot of money. That money tends to come from the lobbyists. Vote for a Teabagger, get an extreme right wing asshole who no doubt cater to the corporate lobby. Vote for a Green Party member, get an extreme left wing asshole who will no doubt cater to the corporate lobby. What we need is a corporation to lobby for the people. I wish there were money to be made in that.
You might want to pojnt the finger at the right people.
The Republicans have move to stop ANYTHING coming from the whitehouse.
over 200 Appoints held up. Sure, a few in key policialt places get a close look, thats norrmal, Over 200? Bullshit.
When the president has agreed on bills sponsored by republicans, the republicans stop backing it
When there isn't something they like they filibuster.
Even when they are dealing with confirming a person they like, they twist all the questions into a political knife that is irrelevant to the confirmation.
No one knw if Gmail is being used, thats what the investigation is for.
" This stuff is NOT personal,
what stuff? again, there is nothing , just an investigation.
"Obama promised to do things DIFFERENTLY"
He has. Start paying attention.
They do not have a hold of both houses. Have you not been paying attention? the Republicans filibuster, and deny almost everything. IN fact, they have denied appointees anonymously. WTF kind of cowardice is that?
They are doing whatever they can to slow down or stop the government. Watch the debates, read the documents PAY ATTENTION.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The allegations , first reported last week by the New York Times,
Fixed that for you.
If one actually bothers to read the original NYT article, one would know it still only talking about allegations. And a limited number of incidents reported by unnamed lobbyists at that. Because there are allegations, CREW called for an official investigation to determine if there is truth to the allegations.
The bigger issue discussed was that coffee-shops being used as meeting places, which again is neither illegal nor necessarily a sign of corruption. It's not a strange and terrible thing for people to meet outside the office. I'd personally be more worried if they were meeting in a private hotel room rather than a busy coffee shop where they can be overheard by reporters.
You're right, there's no excuse for this administration to be caught regularly violating official records laws and ethics rules. But it's kind of important to realize they haven't yet. It's sad that so many in the Slashdot crowd aren't capable of seeing the distinction between sensational headlines and reality.
Nah, that's a strawman built on a misperception. There are people in both parties who want to make a government that works; it's just they are outnumbered by those who would rather get what they want.
Qxe4
All promises aren't equal. If I promise to drink at least 3 glasses of water a day, to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, and also promise to not embezzle from my employer, keeping the first two but not the third may give me a respectable "promise keeping" percentage, but I would guess my employer would be much happier if I kept only the third and not the first two.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am master of my fate and captain of my soul.